


Just Add Water

by seasunwrites



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Inspired by H2O, Language, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Powerful Percy Jackson, maybe idk, merman Percy Jackson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28774425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasunwrites/pseuds/seasunwrites
Summary: “Don’t you feel it, Sal?” he said, pulling her closer.She looked up at him and met his eyes.“What?”“The sea,” Poseidon explained. “It rises with the moon. Over and over. One of the only sureties in this world. Over and over, the tide will rise.”Sally gave him a funny look. “Well, of course I know about the tides and that it’s a full moon—”“Yes, but do you feel it?”.It's strange, how you add a bit of water and suddenly...Percy isn't human anymore.(aka an h20 au that no one asked for)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan & Annabeth Chase, Luke Castellan & Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Triton, Sally Jackson/Poseidon (Percy Jackson)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 107





	1. the ocean can wash me away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea just. Came out of nowhere, and before I knew it, I had 6k words written in the drafts. Yeah, um, I enjoyed writing this so much like y’all have no idea hhh. 
> 
> So yeah, enjoy this self indulgent thing combining my childhood fave show and pjo, let’s gooo🎉

The full moon had always called to Percy. 

Sally thought so, at least. It had unraveled before her in a flash, leaving her dazed on her feet. But she had a feeling that the connection had always been there, waiting, biding its time.

Ever since he'd been a bundle in her arms, light touching his newborn eyes and lungs screaming, she’d known that her son would be something special. She knew what his father had meant in regards to that. But still, she’d never believed that Percy would end up like _this._

The moon. It was the moon, she knew.

It happened every time he ventured outside with that round, silver-like being gracing the sky. It was as if he’d been hypnotized. Spellbound. Turned into a completely different person. But _only_ if he dared give it a glance. 

The phenomenon was...strange, and even worrying. At least at first; many years passed without the two of them—mother and son—realizing just how powerful the moon could be. 

Percy’s first “Moon Spell”, as she liked to call it, began on a trip to Montauk. 

When money wasn’t tight and her boss had offered her a vacation, she packed her bags, grabbed her five-year-old, and left New York’s imposing atmosphere. 

The beach, as always, felt like home. Felt like the warmth of a smile. Of sailing ships and dusty cabins and fairy lights. Of salty kisses and sea spray and comfort. Of laughter and sleep-in’s and a god with eyes like the sea.

“The moon,” Percy babbled as he watched her clean the cabin. She turned to him. His wide eyes stared up at her with innocent curiosity, so precious and beautiful. Just like the sea. Just like his father’s. 

“The moon,” he repeated. “We’ll see a full moon, Mamma.”

Sally gave him an inquisitive smile and kneeled in front of him. She ruffled his hair. “How do you know that, sweetheart?”

He shrugged. “Just know.” He ran to the window and gazed outside, stepping on some of the dusty furniture. She didn’t mind, though. “The ocean is excited. Don’t you feel it?”

Sally's lips parted, but no words came. Percy shoved his little hand into his mouth and hopped off the table, going back to being a five-year-old, skipping around the cabin without a care in the world.

She realized that her mouth was still open. She clamped it shut, shaking her head.

_If you could only see. What a son you’ve left me._

* * *

_“Don’t you feel it, Sal?” he said, pulling her closer._

_She looked up at him and met his eyes._

_“What?”_

_“The sea,” Poseidon explained. “It rises with the moon. Over and over. One of the only sureties in this world. Over and over, the tide will rise.”_

_Sally gave him a funny look. “Well, of course I know about the_ tides _and that it’s a full moon—”_

 _“Yes, but do you_ feel _it?”_

_Her eyes swept across the rolling waves. They pounded against each other, a relentless dance. Dusk fell over the horizon like a comforting shawl, painting the sky in deep purples and pinks and making the water darken to a gray hue. It swirled around, reaching her legs and leaving white foam that slowly disappeared once it lingered there. Her toes curled into the sand, dress soaked from the water. She leaned into the warmth of the man embracing her._

_Well, not really a man._

_“I think so,” she finally said. “I think I feel it. The power, I mean.”_

_Poseidon grinned into her hair. “I always love a full moon.”_

_She glanced at him again, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at the moon, rising from the east._

_“Artemis says hello.”_

* * *

They built a small campfire like the ones her uncle used to do when she was a little girl. He always enjoyed showing her how it was done, and now, she’d be able to teach Percy about it, too.

“So now that we have all the wood,” Sally said, picking some of the last logs Percy had helped scavenge. “We set it on fire. Usually with a lighter. You like the sound of that, baby?”

Percy tilted his head to the side, his chubby face scrunching up in confusion. “But fire is dangerous.”

Sally suppressed a laugh. “Yes, but only if you don’t use it properly. Besides, we can’t have a campfire without fire. Or s’mores.”

“Okay. I trust you, Mamma.”

She brushed her hand through his raven locks and met his eyes. “Watch.”

As she breathed in and out, however—giving some of her oxygen to the small flame that she had created—she noticed that Percy had placed his attention elsewhere. She squashed the temptation of scolding him about it. 

_It’s alright,_ Sally thought. _I can’t force him._

So she continued with her task until the flame had spread, igniting the other logs. Admiring her work, she wiped her hands on her jeans. Already, smoke wafted from the flickering tongues of the fire. 

“What do you think of our fire, baby? Do you want the marshmallows—” 

Her words were cut short. Because Percy, who had been sitting a little distance behind her, was gone. She’d been so busy with the fire that she hadn’t even heard him leave.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

“Shit.”

Sally took off running, shouting his name. He couldn’t have gone far.

And he hadn’t.

But when she couldn’t find him at first, she’d begun panicking. Maybe he’d been taken by monsters, or worse, _Zeus_ had found him. As she scanned the beach, their little cabin, the dunes—that feeling of panic turned into dread. 

Until she caught sight of him by the water. He was already chest deep.

Sally put her fist in her mouth, swallowing a scream. 

Could he drown?

Could a son of Poseidon drown? He was just a _child._

No time to take her shoes off. She sprinted across the sea as fast as her legs could carry her, spraying salty water in her wake. It was harder than she thought; the foam and the tide kept pushing her back, and the water was icy cold. Maybe Percy couldn’t drown, but _Sally_ certainly could.

“Percy!” she shouted. 

_Just a few more feet._ She was so deep now, that she had to paddle with her arms to push forward. A wave hit her in the face, nearly wiping her out. She blinked back the sting of salt from her eyes and tried to find her footing again.

“Per—oh no.” She glimpsed a bump in the water forming, too big to be a regular wave. it would eventually crash on her son.

She paddle-walked harder, faster. _Faster._

“Percy!” He didn’t turn around. “PERCY!” she screeched, voice nearly gone. She would _not_ lose her baby this way. “Percy, duck under the wave! _Swim under it!”_

Too late.

The wave crashed, swallowing him whole, and she was powerless to stop it. She couldn’t see any movement. No limbs sticking out of the foam from the surely violent currents. No sign of his red t-shirt. Nothing. He’d just been...swallowed.

Sally swam further until her arms hurt, heart hammering, trying and failing to get her breathing under control. She ducked under the remaining foam that had trailed toward her; when she resurfaced with a gasp, what she saw made her whimper with relief. Or maybe she’d gone mad. 

It was Percy, floating through the sea on his backside as if he were in a swimming pool. He stared at the sky, seemingly studying something about it. Something peculiar, at least to him.

She pressed a hand to her chest, sensing how her heartbeat slowly went back to normal. Closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath, she murmured, “Oh my gods. Thank you. Thank you, Poseidon.”

Percy didn’t look up when she approached. The sea had suddenly turned into a strange calm, but she wouldn’t take any chances. Getting out was at the foremost of her mind.

“Baby, sweetheart— _what_ were you thinking?” she said, crying and wiping the salt off her face, which was probably a mixture of tears and sea water.

Without reasoning, she surged forward, hoisting him up and into her arms. She was sure that if she let go, Percy would be gone forever.

He hesitantly hugged her back. “I don’t know, Mommy.”

“Oh honey, Percy...Don’t _ever_ do that to me again. Understand?”

“I was just going home,” he said matter-of-factly, playing with her now soaked shirt that clung to her back.

Son of Poseidon or no, she wasn’t accepting any of that bullshit.

“What do you mean you were going home?” Her voice was shrill, bordering on manic, but she didn’t care. Not when she’d almost thought he was gone. Lost into the unforgiveness of the depths. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, is what you did! Do you not know how dangerous the ocean is? I thought you were _gone!_ You can’t play around like that, sweetheart! You just _can’t!”_

“But”—Sally grabbed him by the thighs and hauled him to her chest—“Why would my home hurt me?”

She trudged back to shore with Percy in her arms. “The sea is not your home.”

“Yes it is.”

“We’ll talk when we get out of here.” Sighing, she added, “Just know, Perseus, that I am _not_ happy, at all, about what you did.”

For the first time, she realized that he was dry—not a drop of water could be seen on his body. And he was clinging to her drenched clothes. With his chin on her shoulder, she could tell that he was looking at something on the horizon.

“What is it?” she asked, whirling to his line of vision.

“The moon looks pretty,” he explained, like it was the most obvious thing.

Indeed, it was big and round and almost golden. Sally didn’t remember the last time she’d seen the moon so close to Earth. At least, that’s how it looked like at the moment.

“Yes,” she said, weary. “It’s pretty.”

“I know, right?” he chirped.

He didn’t comprehend at all how upset she was feeling.

_Great, isn’t it? How great._

All she could do was silently fume at the way her tennis shoes sunk into the sandy floor and how her son seemed so unfazed by what had just happened. Her shoes were probably ruined by now. 

But at least Percy was safe. 

Percy was safe, and that’s all that mattered. 

_That’s right. Oh. were you right, Poseidon. He is not human at all._

The latter was quiet all the way to shore. Yet the instant that she lowered him onto dry sand, he bolted toward the opposite direction. 

Ripping every last stand of hair from her scalp was extremely tempting.

 _“Perseus Jackson!_ What are you—” She groaned. “Get back here, young man!”

She grabbed him from behind. He kicked and kicked and screamed, just like the children she saw on the grocery store throwing tantrums. She never thought that her little boy would end up the same. It was the first time he'd struggled so much to free himself from her touch, and it frightened her.

He screeched, "I wanna go back! I wanna—"

"No," Sally said firmly, following the example of all the books about discipline that she'd read. "I'm sorry, Percy, but it is dangerous. And look!" She pointed to the campfire, blazing in a spark of orange and yellow. "The fire is going, stronger than ever! We can—we can eat the s'mores I promised you! You like that?"

Percy let out a shrill cry and fought harder, as if the flame in the distance was about to kill him.

"Percy." Sally sank to the smooth sand and struggled to move her son's shoulders so that he could face her. _"Percy!"_

But he wasn't listening anymore, only gawking at the sea, then the moon. 

The sea, the moon.

The sea, the moon.

Alright, _now_ she was scared.

"Baby, what's wrong? Why..." Her hands loosened on his shoulders, and he took advantage of this to run back into the water.

* * *

"NO! NO, PLEASE, MOMMA! I WANNA STAY!" 

He kicked and screamed all the way back to the cabin. It took all of her willpower not to let go or weaken her hold. Not to cry along with him. She swallowed down sobs when Percy ran out the door and she had to go after him again. She chewed on the pain that she felt at seeing her little boy curl into himself once she'd locked the door, rocking back and forth and crying. Crying like he'd just lost a part of himself, and that grief seemed to only be contagious.

Oh, was it contagious. And no amount of consoling him could make it better.

Still, she wrapped him up in her arms, murmuring sweet nothings into his hair. She would _not_ cry. She would _not_ cry.

After a few minutes of small _sh sh sh's_ and holding him tight, his wailing subsided—and what was left were tremors of anguish and rage that no child should ever have to carry along with them. Sally exhaled, taking her time to stand up and then scoured the cabinets for a towel. But she stopped herself when she grabbed two.

Right, she was the only person in the room that needed one.

Because Percy, unmoving and defeated, was still as dry as ever. If you discounted his glinting cheeks from the tears that rushed through them.

"I'll—I'll be back. To take a shower." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He heard her, though; he nodded and sunk into himself once more. His silent tears streamed down to his chin and fell to the floor.

Sally felt as if someone were slowly squishing her heart and then breaking it in two with a sword.

She ignored it, busying herself, making sure to take the keys with her and any sharp objects around. The windows, thank the gods, were hurricane proof and sealed tight. He'd be safe. Satisfied, she took off her sodden shoes, snatched a pair of pajamas from her bag, and stepped into the bathroom.

She pressed her forehead against the broken bathroom tiles and let the warm water stream down her shoulders, eliminating the remnants of her frozen swim.

And finally, she let herself cry. Let the gut-wrenching sobs tear through her chest. The water pooled around her feet. It rained down on her, just like a storm. And her, the center of it all.

A whimper escaped from her, and she covered her mouth with shaking hands so that Percy wouldn't hear.

How long until he was gone, swept away from her grasp?

If she could only _understand_ who he was.

If she could only _know_ the exact risks. The fucking risks. That was all she wanted.

If he could only be _safe. Forever._

_Poseidon, please. What is wrong with our son?_

* * *

_"He'll be dangerous," he said._

_Not hello or any other pleasantry. Not a smile or a kiss._

_The words made her freeze. "What do you mean? Poseidon? What's wrong?"_

_"Your son," he said, as if that explained everything._

_"You mean_ our _son?"_

_A shadow passed over his face. "Yes, our son."_

_She steeled herself and lifted her chin, locking her gaze to his._

_"What about our son?" she snapped._

_"Like I said, he'll be dangerous. I foresee that he'll possess powers too strong for a demigod."_

_"But why—"_

_"I let myself get carried away...I shouldn't have..." He shook his head. "But it's no matter. What is done is done."_

_"What do you_ mean?" _she shouted, not caring anymore. "It's never straight answers with you! You gods just_ love _to be mysterious, huh? Is that it? What do I have to do for you to fucking explain?"_

_His eyes softened and he gently touched her stomach, where her womb was, carrying a new life. "I'm sorry. I can't say much; I must go soon."_

_“Then why’d you come here in the first place? And—”_

_“Because I have to say goodbye.”_

_Sally knit her brows together._

_“...Oh.”_

_Her voice felt like honey, slow and heavy. She’d thought that maybe they had more time...that he could somehow stay. But no, she’d known this day would come eventually._

_She looked away, blinking the tears away._

_"And I_ do _want to explain. But I don't have much time. The council is already growing suspicious."_

_She nodded, and against her self control, she slumped into the warmth of his chest. He met her halfway and enveloped his arms around her._

_"The child," he said softly, mouth pressed to her shoulder, "will have the sea inside of him. And because of this, he will hear its call. The call of a sacred place."_

_"What type of place?" She shifted and flicked her eyes to meet his. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't perceive what he was thinking._

_"...A place...that will one day become his biggest obsession. To find it, that is."_

_"You're leaving things out," she accused, voice thick. "Damn it, why can't you tell me the whole story?"_

_She finally grasped that emotion in his eyes. Guilt._

_"I'm afraid I can't, Sal. Information is not always good—"_

_"It is if you want to protect your son! But I guess you don't really care about that."_

_Some may have called her foolish for trying to contradict a god, but she didn't particularly care about what others thought._

_"And that's exactly what I'm trying to do. If you know more than you should, they'll come for you and the child, to seek it out. No one must know."_

_"At least tell me why my baby will be dangerous."_

_She hated this — begging, pleading for him to open up. It was a foreign feeling, one she never wanted to experience again._

_He regarded her with those ocean eyes of his._

_"The lunar powers," he began, "are shifting. Growing more intense thanks to the planetary alignments. I wouldn't doubt that the boy's powers will become stronger along with them. Because of this, he will be dangerous. I...still don't know how much. But if things are to escalate, then he must be trained to control them."_

_"And when do you think this will happen?"_

_"Like I said _—_ I don't know." He pursed his lips. "But you have to understand: he is not human, and you can't treat him as such."_

_"I don't care what he is. I just want to know how to protect him."_

_"Here," he said, giving her a small card that had sprouted out of thin air. It had an address on it. "That's where you'll need to take him. To train."_

_She shook her head and stared at Poseidon in disbelief._

_"I can't just...take him there. I don't know these people."_

_His mouth twitched in what Sally knew was annoyance. "It also has their phone number written there. It's a summer camp, a safe place for demigods. Where they aren't hunted down. And trust me on this: the child_ will _be hunted;_ _they know how demigods smell. Those monsters. You've seen them Sally, you know what they're capable of"_

_She swallowed down the lump in her throat._

_"And they won't just hunt him because of his parentage. If what I suspect is true about The Calling, then they'll want to know where the_ _place that I'm talking about is."_

_"Okay." She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "Okay...So...will they guide him? In that summer camp?"_

_"Yes. Chiron is an excellent teacher. I'm sure that if you call, he'll explain more."_

_The thought of sending her son to a training camp like some kind of child soldier was out of question. She'd never call them._ _But still, she nodded._

_Poseidon pressed his palm on her womb once more. "I have to go. I sense that my brother isn't far from here."_

_He began turning back into sea mist._

_"Wait!" Sally said frantically. "Just tell me one more thing! What is the name of that place?"_

_He turned to look at her again. "Names have power. You know that better than most."_

_Through clenched teeth, she said, "At least tell me this."_

"Tritonis."

_It fell from his lips as softly as the sea caressing the sand on the shore._

_She opened her mouth, to say goodbye—anything—since she probably wouldn't see him again in a long, long time. But he was already gone. Lost in the breath of wind. Lost at sea._

* * *

Percy had fallen asleep while she'd been taking her shower, slumped against the couch. Carefully, she carried him to the bed against the wall.

In the darkness, pale light filtered through the curtains, illuminating his face. He seemed so at peace, so angelical this way—tucked under the covers and absently sucking on his thumb. Free of the strange trauma he'd had earlier. 

She moved the curtains aside, peering out the window. And there it was: the moon. A beacon in the sky. 

Sally wasn't stupid. Glancing back at Percy's sleeping form, she knew. This had something to do with the moon. Something primal that only called to those with the ears to listen. Someone like her baby, who was half god. And his father wasn't just any god; he was the god of the sea. Ruler of the oceans, the tides, the storms.

What had he said? Nearly five years ago?

_"The child will have the sea inside of him. And because of this, he will hear its call. The call of a sacred place."_

And the moon...well, the moon was his helper. 

She stood there for some time, maybe for hours. Her eyes never left the window. She allowed herself to stagger to Percy's side and sleep to the rhythm of his breathing once she saw that in the distance, the campfire that she'd long abandoned fell back to its dim embers and clouds surrounded the entire sky, blocking out the moonlight.

* * *

Her son had no memory of last night.

She woke up to Percy snoring against her shoulder, drooling all over the sheets. She smiled at the sight of his messy hair and open mouth. Right now, he was just a little boy. Normal and undisturbed by the world around him.

And when he woke up, he was back to being his jovial, cheerful self. 

She however, peppered him with kisses and questions about last night. If he was alright, if he wanted to talk about it. 

But Percy only blinked at her owlishly. He'd shaken his head, not knowing what she was talking about.

"We made a campfire, right? With the s'mores and stuff? I think I fell asleep, Momma. Maybe you did, too."

She stared right into his eyes and whispered, "Sweetie...do you not remember anything?" 

"Did you save me some s'mores?" he asked hopefully. Innocently.

The bed, it was the bed that was suffocating. She inhaled deeply and desperately lifted the sheets, standing up and tripping over her own feet.

"Y'know what, Percy? Momma's not feeling very well, so we'll just, um...have to head back to the city. I'm sorry, sweetie, but that's just how it is. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Thankfully, he only nodded sullenly. He was such a good kid, so easy to agree with her. He would never have done what he did last night if he'd been in his right state of mind.

Which meant that this wasn't good. Not good at all.

So she packed everything again, as quickly as she could, and left Montauk in the dust. The full moon and the sea combined had awakened something inside her son, and she didn't want to stay on that cursed beach any longer until she understood _exactly_ what that meant.


	2. in the eyes of the moon

Unfortunately, it turned out to be worse than she'd imagined. 

The next _incident_ occurred a year later _—_ in fact _—exactly_ a year later, on the blistering month of June.

But before that, Percy had stayed as normal as always. She prayed to the only god who could give her answers, only for her voice to tumble into the void of nothingness. And after doing research that lead to nothing, she pretty much gave up on finding the cause of Percy's newfound connection. It didn't matter much, anyway. She saw how her son seemed perfectly fine, nothing out of the ordinary. So much so that she'd almost forgotten about Percy's strange behavior that day of the full moon.

Almost.

Sally had recently married Gabriel Ugliano—about a month ago, really. Even with Percy being a seemingly regular child, monsters lingered around the edges of his life, just like Poseidon had predicted. They had many close calls before she'd realized that the monsters only ever left them alone when that equally disturbing man followed her and Percy home.

Every time she was on her shift at the candy shop, he'd be there, waiting. Her coworkers noticed it first, and soon enough, she did, too. So Sally did the hard thing—the crazy thing—and played along to his little games.

It wasn’t long until he’d given her a ring and a new name.

 _Sally Ugliano._ He'd pronounced it with a smirk, the sound music to his hairy ears.

At least on the second part, she'd refused. And vehemently.

He could use her like a marionette all he wanted for the sake of her son. _She_ could pretend to love him even, to give him her sweetest smiles and most delicious food no matter how undeserving he was of it. To share her bed and clean up his mess and put up with his gods-awful smell.

All of it, she’d do for Percy without batting an eyelash.

But she would _not_ fall completely into his abyss. Sally Jackson was her name, one of the last surviving traces of her family. Something she had to cherish forever. And she damned well couldn't loose it to some bastard like him.

Gabe didn't like it, not one bit. But he’d still agreed on the plans of marriage.

So long as Percy carried Gabriel's scent, he'd be safe. So long as Gabriel stayed away from home as much as possible, he'd also be safe.

These musings danced around her head like sweet lullabies as she prepared dinner.

It reassured her, that her choice to marry him had been a good one, in the end. Her financial struggles weren't as bad as before; she'd almost had enough saved for online classes now, and...

_Percy is safe and that's all that matters._

_He doesn't need to train, and that's all that—_

There was a splash, then the sound of something hitting the ground, hard.

A scream echoed from down the hall.

She dashed toward the noise, dropping the knife she’d been using to cut the chicken breast.

 _Percy, Percy in the bathroom._

"Honey?" she cried, breathing hard and knocking on the door. "What's wrong?" 

Silence.

She called out to him again, but all she heard was running water and a bit of splashing. No response.

What if he'd fallen and hit his head?

She frantically tried the door handle and sighed in relief when she realized that it was unlocked. Slamming it open and hitting the wall in the process, she already pictured the worst.

It wasn't the worst. But more so _..._ distressing. Yes, that was one way of putting it.

Because when she caught sight of Percy _—_ lying on the tub and not exactly looking _normal_ _—_ her first reaction was to scream.

 _Percy,_ however, showed no sign of hearing her. He was too enraptured in his own little bubble, staring in wonder at what were once his _feet._ His eyes roved over every single scale, glimmering blue and green when it met the yellow bathroom light. Blue, his new _body part_ was blue. Because Percy no longer had regular skin on his bottom half. Oh no, his legs had transformed into a _tail_ with... _fish scales_...making him look like a, like a _—_

"A merman," he gasped, glancing up at her for the first time. "Mom, look! I'm a merman!"

His face lit up with wonder and disbelief, while Sally had already began to feel her legs weaken. His tale twitched as it dangled from the tub, and he giggled. 

She pinched herself. _This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real._

This _had_ to be a dream...right?

While Percy gushed about his new form, flicking his tail up and down and sprinkling water everywhere, Sally backed into the wall. She slid down onto the cool floor and pinched herself again. Harder. 

But it was no use. She couldn't free herself of this. Couldn't wake up.

 _Maybe this_ isn't _a dream. Maybe, this is just a son of Poseidon thing. You've seen weirder things._

This was different, though.

This was her _son._ Her son that was now a _fish._

"Mom. _Mom._ " 

Percy's words sounded like fogged glass. Barely recognizable. Then she realized: he was trying to talk to her.

_Mom._

Dream or not, her son needed her, so there was little time for her looming mental breakdown. Gradually, her vision refocused on him.

"Are you okay?" he was asking, repeatedly.

The question sent her reeling. Her mouth opened on its own accord, but no words came. It was as if her mind tried to speed through a million thoughts at once but could not choose a single one to start on. A race with no goal. 

She finally managed to say, "Am _I_ okay? Honey, what _—how_ did this happen?" 

He shrugged, the idea on the very back of his mind. He seemed to be unconcerned about his situation, over the moon, even. 

_The moon._

_Shit._

But Percy was already talking, rambling onwards, so she cleared the thought away.

" _—_ Then I stepped into the shower, and after _—_ hmm, what was it? A few seconds? Whoosh!" His arms flew above his head, imitating a magic trick. "I slipped _—_ I think _I_ was water for a little while. And the next thing I knew, I had a _tail!"_

Percy moved it up and down to demonstrate.

"So you...this... _happened_ after you got _wet?"_

He nodded earnestly. "Isn't it cool? I'm like Ariel, Mom!"

She wasn't so sure about the _cool_ part, still back on the bit about her son being a literal sea creature.

"How do you feel? Is it _—_ does it hurt?" Sally leaned over and examined his scales, encrusted into his skin just below his belly button and leading up to a long and beautiful tail.

"Uh...it feels kinda weird. It doesn't hurt, though. Well, except for when I fell," he laughed, as carefree as ever. Just like any little boy. "But if I can swim around, I bet it would be awesome!"

Sally was speechless.

The scales looked so real, not at all like some kind of trick of the mist. Not at all like a dream. Dread had already begun to settle into her system; tentatively, her fingers brushed against them, the rigid smoothness equally startling. That built up dread fell to her heart, to her bones. 

This was reality.

It was the same cruel certainty as all the times she passed by supposedly mythological beings—that it wasn't just her imagination, and no amount of wishing could erase what had already unraveled before her.

_Could he even go back to normal?_

The taste of bile permeated on the back of her tongue. Her head spinned, and she had to blink a few more times for the sickness to go away.

"Momma?" he asked, voice faint. He'd probably just now registered her distressed expression. "D'you know why did this happened? You _can_ turn me back, right? I still wanna have legs."

_Okay, don't panic._

_Percy_ wasn't panicking. Not as much as her, at least. 

But if she didn't keep her head, it wouldn't be long until they were both in trouble.

According to him, he'd suddenly grown a tail after getting wet, in the shower.

Yes, that was it!

Maybe for him to go back to his human form, he'd have to be _dry._ The only problem was that, after last year's trip to Montauk, she'd never seen him use his... _powers_ to stay dry while surrounded by water. Which meant that they'd have to do this the old fashioned way. 

"Okay," she sighed. "Here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to carry you down to your bedroom and then I'll dry you off. And yes, I...I think I know why this happened. I'll explain, baby. As best as I can. Don't you worry."

* * *

It took her longer than she'd anticipated, and half of her mind kept doubting that it would work anyway.

But after her arms hurt and she'd rubbed every single damp place in Percy's body, she heard a shimmering. In a flicker of the light, his tail had vanished, and he was...

Just as he'd been before.

Not a trace of his earlier transformation appeared on his person. 

Everything about him was dry. Jeans and shirt unrumpled. Not hair out of place. 

"Woah," is all Percy managed to say. Sally couldn't agree more. " _Now_ will you explain? Why I'm a mermaid—I mean, merman?"

She managed to show him the hint of a smile. "Be patient honey. This is a good thing, that you could change back. But I have to check on something first."

Lifting herself up, she moved to the window, searching for what her gut already knew was there. Her breath hitched when she saw the full moon in all its silver glory, above New York's city lights. Keeping watch. She nearly broke the curtains from how quickly she'd pulled them in, to cover any light. 

"Is it the moon?" he asked. "Can I see?"

Of course he could sense it.

Percy stood from his spot by the floor like a hungry child ready for dinner. 

"No, no." Sally pushed his shoulders down and sat down in front of him as calmly as she could. "You can't look at anything right now. I have to explain first."

Though disappointed, it was clear that Percy was still thinking straight. That meant last year's strange behavior really _did_ have to do with him seeing the moon, and so, she'd have to hide that away from him.

"Well," she began, "It all started since before you were born. When I met your father..."

And so Sally told him everything. About him being special because of his parentage, about his powers and the sea and why he had to be careful, and every single little detail that he'd understand.

She was aware that Percy was a mature kid for his age, but he still surprised her by how well he took all the new information, no matter how ridiculous it all seemed. Maybe it was because he didn't quite comprehend it yet. No matter how many questions he asked as of now and how well she tried to answer them, in her heart, she knew. Knew that it wouldn't take long for what she'd said to carry on the load of consequences.

Or perhaps she really _was_ doing the right thing. To tell Percy the whole story, that is. He'd witnessed it beforehand. If this were to happen again, then he wouldn't freak out so much.

_Gods, it would likely happen again._

_He can't just...transform whenever he pleases. What are we even going to_ do?

"Sweetheart," she whispered, smoothing down his hair and looking at him directly in the eye. "You _cannot_ tell anyone about this. We still don't know if you'll turn back again, or, or _anything._ Understand?"

Percy nodded.

"Especially Gabe. Don't you dare mention this to him."

He wrinkled his nose. "Don't worry, Momma. I won't tell Smelly Gabe."

Smart kid.

"You'll be alright, baby," she said, ushering him to settle down under his sheets.

It wasn't so late; Sally speculated that it was barely eight o'clock. Percy hadn't even eaten dinner yet. Still, she could tell that her son was all but drained...but it wouldn't be so bad if he at least had some food, so he wouldn't go hungry. In the back if her mind, though, she had the mere suspicion that the full moon that waited outside would find a way to influence him like back in Montauk. And then when Gabe came home...

No. She'd see to it that he slept soundly before that happened. And it wasn't hard. Softly singing one of the only songs she remembered from her mother, Sally watched Percy's lashes flutter like butterfly wings until his eyelids followed along, shutting tight.

_"You'll be alright, baby,"_

She wished she could believe what she'd said as fully as Percy had. 

_There's no need to worry. Not now, anyway. Look at him, safe and sound._

His demigod scent would still be masked by her husband. There was no need to worry. No need at all.

And yet, as she kissed Percy goodnight, making sure that he was well and truly asleep and then later retiring to her room, she still felt that niggling sensation of dread. Her son had turned into an actual merman—she still didn't know the exact reasons as to _why—_ and the risk grew of monsters coming for him. Of gods like _Zeus_ coming for him.

After all, Poseidon hadn't lied.

Percy _was_ special, even for a demigod. Gods knew what hid under his skin, or exactly how much of his blood flowed scarlet red. She had no clue about the reasons for him being born this way, what Poseidon had to do with all of it. No idea of the power that the moon held, what that connection was. If this had been an awakening of some sort. If her son would even _remain_ with two legs, or if he'd escape to the sea, forever lost, swimming in circles. Alone.

The image of Percy with a tail kept going on repeat, haunting her.

She hadn't heard the front door opening, or the footfalls that followed. She'd just sat there, on her bed, tasting salt and not knowing the difference from up and down. 

A shadow passed over her and the blurry face of a man reeking of trash and cigar and beer loomed from above. 

"Idiot woman," Gabriel spat. "You done crying and give me dinner?"

His voice was slurred, words mixing together like melted candle wax and birthday cake. He'd already grabbed her, mouth close to hers; the smell of alcohol made her come back to her senses. Sally pulled away from him as briskly as possible. She wiped the remaining tears that, until now, she hadn't noticed were resting on her cheeks.

"Yes." She cleared her throat. "Yes, dear. Just a minute."

He growled under his breath, "Don't have a minute."

"Then come to the kitchen with me." 

* * *

The nausea from earlier came back with vengeance, threatening to spill the few bites of food she'd had. Luckily for her, Gabe had fallen dead asleep the second he'd hit the pillow, too drunk to do anything else. She couldn't take it anymore and stumbled to the bathroom, already retching.

Sally leaned into the toilet, leering at the scummy water. The color, she thought, wasn't normal; she knew that they should hire a plumber. Though with what money, she couldn't say.

It was the smell, probably. This close to the toilet, she could make out where some of Gabe's odor came from. Breathing it in, she gagged and dry-heaved, but nothing came. All she could manage to do was spit out some of the bitterness, even if her stomach had yet to calm its whirling mess. Exhausted, Sally collapsed against the bath tub to the left of the WC.

Something laying on the floor caught her eye. Her breathing stopped. It was a piece of paper, discarded farther away. She was sure that she hadn't seen it before when she'd barged inside.

Crawling over to it, she grasped the paper's edges. It was hard and sturdy. Probably a business card. She turned the blank side over to read what the script on the front said and instantly dropped it with a gasp like she'd been stung.

She'd seen this card before.

And it had been the last time _he_ had talked to her.

_"That's where you'll need to take him. To train."_

With shaking fingers, she plucked it from the floor again. 

It read:

_Chiron, camp director_

_Half Blood Hill_

_Long Island, New York_

_(Delfi Strawberries 3.146)_

_(800) 009-0009_

A silver of hope sparked inside her at the suggestion that Poseidon had probably sent this to her. That he _was_ watching. But that light left in a puff of smoke as quickly as it had come.

Her hands resumed their trembling once again. 

_He_ thought that she couldn't handle this, that Percy deserved to be taken away. Maybe it could be a "safe place" for him, but at what cost? To let her child be immersed fully in a hero's fate and carry the weight of the world on his shoulders? So that Zeus could find out of his existence and kill him, once and for all? So that he'd be the hero of the prophecy, subject to suffering and a cruel death? Let Percy go? _Her_ baby? Not figure things out because she was too weak to try? 

No, gods almighty, she would _not_ send him away to that place. Angry tears slipped down her cheeks. They fell to the cursed paper with the cursed address, pooling around the ink. Acid with acid.

She found herself tugging violently in opposite directions, yanking, waiting for the card to break in half. When it had been left to nothing but tatters, Sally scooped the pieces into the palm of her hand and threw them all in the toilet. She glanced at the swirling waters with no remorse as the papers flushed away into oblivion. There was a strange emptiness that followed, a hollow silence after the shuddering sounds of the toilet had stopped—they really _did_ need a plumber, but that was the least of her problems.

The decision she'd just made had been a rash one. 

In her impulsiveness, it hadn't occurred to her that she could still keep the paper, just in case. If any emergency were to come up.

But there was no bringing it back, now. What was done was done.

She stood up on weakened legs and trudged to her bedroom, the monstrous snoring of Gabe welcoming her back. Changing into pajamas, she was ready to slip into the world of sleep, lifting the sheets out of the way so that the heat wouldn't bother her so. The AC wasn't working. Again.

_Fine. It's fine._

But she froze when she saw, nestled in her side of the bed, the business card that she'd destroyed in the bathroom.

_It couldn't be—_

But it was.

The gods were watching, and hopefully it was only the one god she knew of and not the rest. 

The anger she'd felt earlier had dissipated, but that didn't mean she wasn't wary. As though it would bite, she carefully hid it inside her night drawer.

Her mind was wide awake, now.

Even if she wasn’t planning on sending Percy to this unknown place—this Camp Half-Blood—anytime soon, she’d still keep the card that awaited her final decision. That _planned_ to await, collecting dust, for any eventuality. 

Just in case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I described smell more than usual lol, and hopefully I was accurate in that, since my sense of smell is nonexistent. But anyway, lmk what you think in the comments!


End file.
